Loose-leaf binder



C; D. TRUSSELL LoosE LEAF- BINDR' Filed Dec. 1e, 195o um *`m| v AS?.

CLARENCE n. TEUssELL, E EOUGHKEEPSIE, NEW Yom;y Assieivon 'ro frnussELI.

Patented May 10, 1932 UNITED STATI-:s PATENT `oirilijci.

MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF POUGHKEEPSIE, NEW"YORK, A CORPORATION 0F NEWYORK j' LoosE-LEAEBINDEn Y Apvpncationiiea December 16, i930. seriaiNo.502,63a`l f i i This invention relates to so-called ring binders forloose-leaf books. Siich binders comprise separable rings, the segmentsof which (hereinafter called prongs) are carried upon movablelsupports,usually in the form` of flat plates, whichhave a rocking engagement attheir inner or adj aceiit edges and are pressed toward each other, theirre ation being such that their movement between the closed and openpositions of the rings carries them past an intermediate or neutralposition or plane so that the spring stress acts through the plates tohold the prongs apart when open and to hold them pressed together whenclosed.- Such plates are commonly called toggle plates, because theyhave an effective toggle action as they'move in either direction pasttheir neutral or mid position. The spring stress may be'variouslyimparted but is most commonly applied by means of a resilientsheet-metal back plate, the outer edges of which arefturned inwardly toform hoolis or concave longitudinal fianges which embrace the outeredges of the prong plates and form, in effect, rocking pivots at theirengagement therewith. In some instances., however, the resilience ispro,- vided within the material of the prong plates themselves, which isto be regarded as an equivalent of the resilient back plate. In somecases, also, the structure is covered over with a top plate or coverplate which may itself be the resilient member or may, by its springstress, supplement that of the back plate. Y

Such toggle prong plates as heretofore made have had a rocking orknife-edge engagement with one another at their meeting or adjacentedges. The present invention substitutes for this a varying rockingengagement by means of cam surfaces formed upon or projecting from themeeting or adjacent edges of the plates. These cams are so shaped thatas the prongs openbytherising movement of the plates the rockingengagement of the cam faces presses'the plates `apart while causingtheir points of contact to descendrelatively to the plates. `The resultis that their effective contact is brought much nearer to the medialline or neutral plane when the prongs -to close therings.

are opened than when they are closed. This has thefurther effect ofgiving a very much lighter effective spring stress to hold the prongsopen than tliatwhich acts when they are closed together to hold themclosed.

It is common with ring biiidersof this type to provide some sort ofopener (sometimes called a booster) for forcing the plates up at theiradjoining edges to open the rings. Such opener is constructed to providean ade-l quate leverage for overcoming the stiffness vof the springmember by which the prongs are held closed together. It is desirablethat the springs stress be such as to hold the hooks together withconsiderable firmness in order toavoid any possibility of theirseparating and spilling out the leaves or sheets, as well as to makeprovision for the gradual loss enL of spring stress which occurs in thecourse of time. With the ordinary binders the provision of suchstiffness results in making it very difhcult to press theprongs togetherThe present invention has the effect of greatly diminishing the eectivespring stress when the prongs are opened while applying the maximumspring stress l,to hold the prongs closed. Thepreferable embodiment ofthe invention is that shown in thel accompanyingI drawings, wherein-Figure l is a transverse section of the loose ring mechanism in openposition, taken on 'line 'l-j-lin Fig. 8, the usual cover and the vmeansfor attaching the loose mechanism to the cover being omitted from thedrawings. y

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal mid-section of one end portion of the bindingmechanism.l j

Fig. 3 is a plan of the binding mechanism lshowing the prongs separatedas in Fig. 1, a

portion of the cover plate being broken away to better show the internalconstruction.

4: isa transverse section similar to Fig. l but online 1 -4 in Fig. 8,`and with the prongs closed.

Figs. 5 and 6 are transverse sections much enlarged, showing,respectively, the. closed and open positions of the prongs, these viewsbeing in the plane of the line 5 6 in yFig. 3.

Fig.- 7-'is afragmeiitary plan andedge view showing'the 'cani oii oneof` the prongV plates.

ioo

Y Vof the plates so as v.ment of the prong F ig. 8 is a similar plan andedge view of a modified shape of cam.

According to the drawings, A, A are the usual prongs or half-rings,sometimes called hooks, and B, B are the prong plates or toggle plateswhich carry them. These, as stated, have. a rocking engagement .attheirapproaching edges and turn uponsubstantially -fixed axes attheir outeredges Where, in thel preferred construction, they are embraced betweenthe inturned hook'fla'nges or channels c, c of the spring back plate C.Y. A cover a plate D is applied in such manner as to cover over andconceal the mechanism and is commonly formed with outer hooked flangesd, toembraCe the iiangesl c, c. As stated, the resilient effect mayreside in the back plate C or it may be in the cover plate D, or Vit maybe partly in each. Commonly, it is the back plate C which is Ymainly.relied uponr as the spring plate. In some instances in the art thisback plate is so thick and stiff as to be substantially rigid, and theprong plates B, B are slotted or otherwise conformed so thattheresilient effect occurs within the material of` these plates. Theseseveral constructions are regarded in the art as equivalents.

ln the particular construction shown theV prongs A, A are swaged orriveted into holes formed in the prongY plates. The inner or rockingedges of the plates are kept in alignment by being formed with lips b, boverlying one anther, this being a construction well understood in thisart. The bearing engageplates is accomplished at suitable intervals bymeansv of cam portions E, E which project slightly beyond the edges n toAhold the latter apart slightly (as shown V'the cam portions E, Ey

occur. These `cam portions E, E are preferably bent down some'- .whatfrom the main levelof theplate, as shown in Fig. 2 and in Fig. Th

.left-hand plates meet and engage Veach other with afrockingor rollingContact. g This contact, as the plates rock, may travel from'one end ofthemating'cams to the other, or 'its Atravel may be in the direction ofthe thickness of engagement 'of the outer edges of the plates I withithe hook flanges Y0, 0 on the back plate i' eo (or any equivalentpoints of .whatever lresilient'means is employed). In Fig-15, Where theprongs are closed together and-theplates lare down, the cams lengageengagementwith Y attheipoints w,rw,jwhich`points are some- :whatremotely Ybelow the middle of .65

raw, whereas Vin Eig. 6, Where the prongs'are vof .the plates elsewhere,

Vin F ig. 3) except where `the prongs and diminishing n p ey are fformed in pairs so-that those on the right and the line separated toopen the rings, gagement of the cams has points of contact to the pointsy, y, which are much closer above the. line than the points w, w arebeneath that line. As the toggle action with respect to spring stressapplied to the ends of the prongs is much more effective when thecontact points (w, w) are remote from the neutral line than when theyare, (as at y, y) close to that line, it follows that the springs stressis much more effective when the prongs are closed 'together than whentheyrare opened apart.

ln action as the prongs are separated by the middle portion of theplates, the effective cam contact rolls downward, While at the same timethe contact surfaces pass through the plane a2, a: between theouterpivotal edges of the plates so that when the plates reach their neutralposition their Outer the rocking enbrought their the rising o .edges arematerially separated, thereby forcing apart the lianges c, c of thespring plate;

`and as the plates pass this plane and move maintains nearly the entireincreased Stress thus imparted tothe resilient member. In .thismovement, of course, the effective contact points cross the medial linem, so that the spring .stress is .reversed in its .effective directionso that kin the position shown in Fig. l6, it is made effectivejto .holdthe prongs separated. By reason of the fact that the cams are struck.downward from the -plates it is :quite practicableto carry theeifective contact points y., yv entirely below the loweredges s s .asisapparent, this rbeing .a -result .not heretofore attained.

s Thus 'this invention in .its practical applicav.tion .in effectredistributes the spring stress, .increasing its effect in the .closedposition of its effect in their opened position; .the result is that.the prongs form'rnore perfect fclosedrngs whenthe book -is closed,andWhen the prongs-areseparated to .open the rings -it .ismuch easier to`close `them together :again .than heretofore. Y

ince the invention makes it much more Idifiicult than heretofore toseparate the prongs, it is important to provide a suitable opener.affording vample leverage .for the Ipurpose. `Such .opener 4isyconstituted by 'a lever YF, as Ashown in Figs.` 2.and 3 fthe Vlong .arm

of which overhangs Vthe endof the .top plate D and the 'shortarm ofwhich A'comes lunder Vthe adjacent edges ofthe prongplates which toprythem up vand fopen .the prongs. Such Vopener v.may be variouslyconstructed but is .preferably lofthe construction shown and describedin detail .in mycompanion appli'cation'filedNovember` 26, 1930, SerialNo. 4:98268-/` I Y The .shapeof vthefcams .may vbe ,greatly variedwithout: departing :tromlthe invention.

ig. `8 is an example wherein the Icarn, in-

l tegrally with the to apply my Sil stead of being pressed downwardly atan incline, as in Fig. 7, is embossed downwardly, its rolling surface gbeing suitably rounded.

This rounding may be on the same contour` shown in the cross-sectionFigs. 5 and 6.

rlhe cam surfaces may be considerably varied, the important thing beingthat the bearing contact of the plates is struck downward from thegeneral plane of the plates so that their eifective points of Contactmay vary in their relation to the neutral line'w, m during the movementof the plates, as has been described with reference to Figs. 5 and 6.

It is an important feature that there shall be a suitable relationbetween the effective cam surfaces in the open position (Fig. l6) andthe -means for arrestingthe prong plates in that position. It isunderstood that the opening movement of the prongs is limited only bythe internal construction of the mechanism whereby some suitable stop 1sprovided to limit the upward Vmovement of the adjacent edges of theprong plates. This stop is conveniently applied to the top plate D,which is shown as having internal projections L, 7L in position to beabutted by some portion of theinner edges of one or both the prongplates, preferably by the lips b, b which, as shown, project somewhatabove the top surfaces of the plates, and in the open position of theprongs strike against the stops h, as shown in Fig. 6. According to thepresent invention, the stops 7L are formed inplate D by swaging orcupping a portion of this plate downwardly in the proper position, asshown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. The positions chosenare those which coincidewith the lips b, Z.

The construction may be modified to a considerable extent withoutdeparting from the invention, the scope of which is indicated by theclaims. Y

In place of limiting the opening movement by the stops it, reciprocalstops may be applied to the two prong plates, an example of which isshown in my Patent No. 1,468,845, dated September 25, 1923.

The present invention does not necessitate that the bearing portions orrocking engagement of the prong plates shall be limited to projectingcam portions which force the inner edges of the plates elsewhere out ofcontact with one another. It is common in binders of this type tomaintain an extended contact between the inner edges of the prongplates,an example being shown in my Patent No. 1,468,845, datedSeptember 25, 1923;

present invention to that construction, the cams E, E need only comeinto mutual abutment as the plates in the opening movement swing to orabove the neutral line While it is preferable to form the cams E, Eintegrally with the prong plates by suitable swaging or bending, yet itisto be Vunderstood that the invention is not limited to this integralconstruction, as the cam faces might be on separate pieces united to theplates.

I claim as my invention:

1. Loose leaf binding mechanism of the type comprising prong plateshaving a rocking engagement at their adjacent edges,

Vpressed resiliently together, andmovable to both sides of a neutralline so as to apply the resilient stress to hold the prongs in eitheropen or closed position, characterized by the provision of said plateswith cam portions acting to force themapart in moving to the openposition. y

2. BindingV mechanism according to claim 1, the cam portions being bentdown from the material of the plates.

3. Binding mechanism according to claim 1, the cam portions projectingdownwardly from the plates and abutting at points below the center ofthe plates.

t. Binding'mechanism according to claim y 1, the cam portions havingtheir engaging faces contoured to roll on each other with a rockingengagement during the opening and closing movements.

5. Binding mechanism according to claim 1, the cam portions having theirengaging faces contoured to abut above such neutral line in the openposition and below such line in the closed position.

6. Binding mechanism according to claim 1, the cam portions having theirengaging faces contoured to abut above such neutral line in the openposition and Vbelow such line in they closed position, their. abutmentbeing nearer such line in the open position than in the closed position.

7 A loose leaf binder comprising prong plates and a spring back plateengaging their outerk edges, `the prong plates having projecting camportions adapted, as the plates are moved to the open position, to forceapart their' outer edges against Vthe stress of the my name. l

, CLARENCE D. TRUSSELL.

leaf binder comprising prong nok

